Fresh Prince Fraud Behind Bars

Wed., Dec. 28, 2005 9:15 AM PST by Gina Serpe

Independence day is a long way off for the fake Fresh Prince.

Carlos Lomax, the guy who stole Will Smith's identity and ran up nearly $33,000 in credit card debt in the actor's name, was sent back to prison Tuesday after violating the terms of his probation.

Lomax, 45, was ordered to serve two more years in the slammer after senior U.S. District Judge Alan Bloch declared Lomax "not amenable" to probation.

According to U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan, Lomax failed to rehabilitate himself or make restitution to his victims, including the rapper-actor, while on supervised release.

The Big Willie wannabe was initially sentenced to 37 months in prison (a term later reduced to 30 months) after pleading guilty to using the name Willard Christopher Smith Jr., the Men in Black star's birth name, to open 14 credit card accounts at Pittsburgh-area stores.

Lomax, who unlawfully obtained Smith's social-security number, was released from a halfway house in June.

But the false-identity charges weren't the first for Lomax. He was on probation from a previous identity-theft conviction, wherein he charged nearly $81,000 on an American Express card bearing former NBA player turned TV commentator Steve Smith's name, when he was arrested for pretending to be Will Smith.

A federal judge, at the time, ordered Lomax to repay the creditor, plus another $190,000 to other companies whose credit he fraudulently obtained. According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret Picking, the charges remain unpaid.

Lomax ran into more trouble when he obtained court permission to move to Atlanta in August, but failed to return to Pennsylvania after federal probation officers down south refused to supervise him. An arrest warrant was soon released in his name.

Bloch ordered the admitted fraud to pay nearly $64,000 in restitution Tuesday, which covers the purchases Lomax made in Will Smith's name, as well as those made under the name of an unidentified retired pro football player.

It was the Hitch star's second court victory this week.

Earlier, the Minneapolis-based National Arbitration Forum awarded Smith the Internet domain name willsmith.tv after he filed a complaint in October that his name was being abused.

Smith argued that the site was "confusingly similar" to his own (willsmith.com), that the operator, identified as Rubble, was using his name for commercial gain and was confusing fans, who might believe the Independence Day hero was endorsing objectionable products advertised on the site, primarily materials to cultivate marijuana.

Smith further claimed that the site, registered in 2004, infringed upon his Will Smith trademark, which he registered in 2002.

The domain name was transferred to the actor after Rubble failed to respond to Smith's claims.